A History of Macroeconomics from Keynes to Lucas and Beyond

by Michel De Vroey

Overview

This book retraces the history of macroeconomics from Keynes's General Theory to the present. Central to it is the contrast between a Keynesian era and a Lucasian – or dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) – era, each ruled by distinct methodological standards. In the Keynesian era, the book studies the following theories: Keynesian macroeconomics, monetarism, disequilibrium macro (Patinkin, Leijongufvud, and Clower) non-Walrasian equilibrium models, and first-generation new Keynesian models. Three stages are identified in the DSGE era: new classical macro (Lucas), RBC modelling, and second-generation new Keynesian modeling. The book also examines a few selected works aimed at presenting alternatives to Lucasian macro. While not eschewing analytical content, Michel De Vroey focuses on substantive assessments, and the models studied are presented in a pedagogical and vivid yet critical way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107584945
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/07/2016
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	446
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.98(d)

About the Author

Michel De Vroey is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Louvain and visiting professor at the Université Saint Louis, Brussels. He has published several books, including Involuntary Unemployment: The Elusive Quest for a Theory (2007) and Keynes, Lucas: D'une macroéconomie à l'autre (2009). He has also published extensively in scholarly journals.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part I. Keynes and Keynesian Macroeconomics: 1. Keynes's General Theory; 2. Keynesian macroeconomics; 3. The neoclassical synthesis program: Klein and Patinkin; 4. Monetarism; 5. Phelps and Friedman: the natural rate of unemployment; 6. Leijonhufvud and Clower; 7. Non-Walrasian equilibrium models; 8. Assessment; Part II. DSGE Macroeconomics: 9. Lucas and the emergence of DSGE macroeconomics; 10. A methodological breach; 11. Assessing Lucas; 12. Early reactions to Lucas; 13. Reacting to Lucas: first generation new Keynesians; 14. Reacting to Lucas: alternative research lines; 15. Real business cycle modeling: Kydland and Prescott's contribution; 16. Real business cycle modeling: critical reactions and further developments; 17. Real business cycle modeling: assessment; 18. Second generation new Keynesian modeling; Part III. A Broader Perspective: 19. The history of macroeconomics against the Marshall–Walras divide; 20. Standing up to DSGE macroeconomics; 21. Looking back, looking ahead.

Editorial Reviews

"Michel De Vroey does not simply record what he finds. He has a vision of the kind of macroeconomics he would like to see, perhaps one he developed gradually over the years he has worked on this book. What makes this book enjoyable is that he has high hopes for economics, he flatters us that we are important, and he praises the progress we have achieved. In the end he has the integrity not to hide his disappointments, his conviction that while there is no turning back, there is still a long way to go."
Robert E. Lucas, Jr, John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, University of Chicago

"No branch of economics has witnessed as many revolutions and counter-revolutions as macroeconomics, starting from Keynes' General Theory eighty years ago. Michel De Vroey's book provides a thorough but highly readable account of the main developments in the field over that period. It conveys a sense of the excitement generated by the advent of every new paradigm, as well as of the growing tension between the requirements of theoretical purity and those of empirical and policy relevance that macroeconomists keep facing these days."
Jordi Galí, Research Centre for International Economics (CREI), Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona Graduate School of Economics

"Macroeconomics research has largely proceeded through 'revolutions'. One wishes for a more linear and evolutionary process, one where most new contributions would naturally fit and the common core become steadily stronger. But the immense complexity of modern economies, the difficult methodological choices, may be such that 'revolutions' will keep happening, with their share of destruction, confusion, and eventual reconstruction. Understanding the nature of these revolutions is essential to understanding where we are today, and Michel De Vroey's book does a masterful job of doing just that. A thoroughly illuminating and enjoying read."
Olivier J. Blanchard, Robert M. Solow Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"Macroeconomics is a complex evolving system of thinking. Michel De Vroey's latest book dives into that evolving complexity and, by distinguishing between Marshallian and Walrasian macroeconomics, helps make the history of macroeconomics a bit more understandable. It's sad that more economists don't make that distinction."
David Colander, Distinguished College Professor, Middlebury College

"De Vroey's book reads like a travelogue recounting his life journey as a macroeconomist, and his considered response to key texts he encountered along the way. Always thoughtful and penetrating, he stimulates this reader to reflect anew on how we got to where we are today, and what might lie ahead."
Perry Mehrling, perrymehrling.com

'Michel De Vroey’s interpretation of the history of macroeconomics through analysis of the most important macro models built and developed in the last decades, from Keynes’s General Theory to the present days, is presented here.' Danilo Freitas Ramalho da Silva, The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought

From the Publisher